It goes without saying that central midfielder Matt O’Riley is one of Celtic’s most important players.
He’s been virtually ever-present once again this season, and proved an integral in the club winning the Scottish Premiership title. His ability and form, therefore, have once again alerted his fan club to the possiblity that we could lose him.
This is heighted by his shocking ommission from the Denmark squad at the Euros.
But could his Denmark omission help keep him at Celtic Park, at least for now?
It’s been some rise for Matt O’Riley.
After being released by Fulham, a short spell at MK Dons followed, before he headed north of the border and became a big hit at Celtic.
The midfielder has gone from being worth zero to clubs enquiring about his services being quoted fees of around £30 million.
And it’s easy to see why.
You’d think that at this point, O’Riley would be in a position to add to his two senior caps for Denmark, with the Dane’s seen as having chance of success according to Euro 2024 betting online, but that’s not to be the case this summer at least.
On the one hand, you could say it’s pretty surprising that Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand hasn’t included him in his squad for the Euros.
This season alone, the twenty-three-year-old has scored nineteen goals and made eighteen assists across forty-nine appearances in all competitions for Celtic. It’s some return, especially as O’Riley has also helped his club secure another double, with both the league title and Scottish FA Cup collected.
On the other hand, while Celtic will want their players to do well and to be selected for international duty, it may actually help them keep hold of O’Riley.
As mentioned above, if reports are to be believed, the London-born star has a raft of suitors who are all keen on signing him this summer. The majority of those are based south of the border and in the Premier League, with Southampton one of those outfits that are said to have registered an interest. But, as you’d expect, they’ve all baulked at the rumoured asking price of £30 million, at least at this stage anyway.
However, if O’Riley had been a part of the Denmark set-up at Euro 2024 in Germany, and he performed as everyone knows he can, on the international stage, not only could it have made the clubs chasing him more willing to part with the cash required to get a deal over the line, but it could also have brought more suitors to the table too.
There’s no doubt that O’Riley will have a future beyond Celtic in the coming years.
He’s one of the best young talents operating in the UK, at the very least.
But the club were smart when they extended his contract last September, which means there’s an agreement in place until 2027. You’d imagine that Celtic can warn off his fan club for now with a big asking price, but another impressive season, and you never know.
But in that season, he could help Celtic to more success, which would work for everyone.
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